I obviously agree with the Bill passing. I thank the Minister of State and her officials for all their work on this legislation. I think this is the first piece of legislation the Minister of State has introduced herself. I may be wrong.

Yes. It is the first she has taken through the House. I appreciate that the questions that were put have been addressed. We had good scrutiny on this Bill. There is cross-party support for the credit union movement and I appreciate the fact that the Minister of State has taken the time to look at the issues that were raised by me, come back and report back. That is particularly true of that engagement on the review of policies with the Central Bank. It is very worthy and notable that the Minister of State has had t…

Ar an Déardaoin seo caite, bhí an chathair seo faoi scamall bróin. Táimid ag smaoineamh orthu siúd a gortaíodh ar Chearnóg Parnell, go háirithe ar an ngirseach agus ar a cúntóir. Is í fírinne an scéil ná gur cailleadh smacht ar an gcathair seo agus tá sé soiléir go bhfuil smacht caillte ag an Aire Dlí agus Cirt agus go gcaithfidh sí éirí as. On Thursday this city was gripped by grief. My thoughts are with those who were injured at Parnell Square and we pray for their recovery. Like others, I pay tribute to the emer…

Just as they have abandoned neutrality, they have abandoned the Dáil.

Is mór ag muintir na hÉireann ár neodracht. An tseachtain seo caite, d'fhógair an Tánaiste go bhfuil sé le laghdú a dhéanamh ar neodracht le deireadh a chur leis an nglas triarach atá againn leis an UN. Cuireann Sinn Féin ina choinne seo. Is láidreacht í ár neodracht agus ba chóir í a chosaint. The Irish people cherish our neutrality. It is a policy and principle that has enhanced our reputation. It has provided a platform for Ireland to promote peace, to resolve conflict and to pursue justice in international affa…

Over the past month and more we have been witness to the cruel and vicious bombardment of the Palestinian people in Gaza together with increased attacks, intimidation and brutality in the West Bank. These events have underlined the need for the State to do everything in its means and use everything at its disposal to hold the Israeli regime to account on behalf of the Palestinian people. We have legislation calling for divestment in the illegal settlements by Israel. Will the Minister update the Dáil his engagement…

In the past number of weeks, we have seen this play out in front of our eyes on our television screens and on social media. We have witnessed actions by an Israeli regime that break all moral and, indeed, legal codes. We have a moral obligation to act, and there are steps that can be taken. In March, before the humanitarian crisis unfolded, Sinn Féin brought legislation before the House, which would require the NTMA to divest the assets in the ISIF of companies that operate within the illegal Israeli settlements in…

The lack of urgency on this by the Government is startling. We brought forward the legislation and it decided to stall it for nine months. That nine months is up in January and there is still no plan from the Government. In the meantime, bombs have rained down on the people of Gaza. We have seen the destruction of hospitals and civilian infrastructure, and the destruction and targeting of schools. We have seen the deaths of thousands of women and children. We have seen the victims of war crimes right before our eye…

As we have discussed previously, in the recent budget the Minister introduced a tax break for landlords of €600 next year, going up to €1,000. It was an unprecedented step in our tax code and raises fundamental concerns around equity and fairness. Another key issue is the purpose of this tax break, who will benefit and why it is necessary. Can the Minister inform the Dáil of the deadweight loss associated with this tax break for landlords?

It is difficult to see this tax break as anything other than an expensive sop to landlords. That is why Dr. Barra Roantree, formerly of the ESRI, described this tax break as "Maybe the stupidest tax relief of recent times", with the vast majority going to landlords who never even thought of leaving the market. The Minister says there is a risk of deadweight. Is he telling me that he has not even calculated the deadweight? He probably does not want to calculate the deadweight because it is absolutely massive. He sho…

The Minister's officials, experts and professors on the outside are telling him this is not going to work but he is going ahead with it because that is what his party does in terms of the interests of landlords. There is a perverse incentive in our tax code, which I addressed at the finance committee, that Fine Gael introduced many years ago and that encourages landlords to sell. All the different agencies and advisers are telling landlords to sell now and that now is the time to sell if they want to be tax efficie…

My question concerns the recent economic forecast from the Commission updating its projections on the Irish economy, in which it predicts a 0.9% fall in GDP this year. Notwithstanding the fact we know GDP has become essentially decoupled from the performance of the domestic economy as an accurate measure, will the Minister outline his assessment of the Commission’s latest projections, particularly in relation to corporation tax revenue and the performance of the Irish labour market?

Those results from the CSO are welcome in relation to some of the other measurements we have seen in recent times, in particular, the Commission's forecasting, which I am addressing in this question. We all know the growth rate in the domestic economy, which was always going to ease from its post-pandemic surge, is expected to slow further as we have capacity constraints that have become a wee bit more binding than people would have expected. We have also seen a 1.8% decline in GDP in the most recent quarter, with …

It is important that none of us become complacent. We understand the likely fall-off in GDP and GDP projections is in large part due to the reduction in pharmaceutical exports since the pandemic. Obviously, we had a surge and a bonanza during the pandemic as regards that sector and it played into our receipts. That was obviously going to drop off and return to a more normal level. We have also seen volatility in the tech and ICT sectors. Foreign direct investment will continue to play a vital role in our economy bo…

An estimated 113,000 mortgage borrowers in this State have had their loans sold to vulture funds. That includes approximately 80,000 primary dwelling homes. The aim of the credit servicers directive is to encourage the development of secondary markets of non-performing loans. Will the Minister inform the House of his Department's assessment of the impact this directive will have on consumer protection and citizens' rights, and the date he expects its transposition to take place?

Is it not the case that the directive will provide for the outsourcing of debt collection and enforcement of the security, which could involve eviction proceedings by a credit servicer or a vulture fund? A number of concerns have been raised by consumer rights advocates, for example by Professor Padraic Kenna of the University of Galway. He says this directive could transform the treatment of non-performing loans, NPLs, in the EU. We know that 15% of home loans are already held by vulture funds, thanks to Fianna Fá…

It has been noted that these vulture funds and debt collection servicing credit agents will operate under different legal traditions and consumer protection codes. It is clear that this directive will have a greater impact on poor households. There is every possibility that Irish households could see decisions made about their loans being made by vulture funds that are not registered in EU member states. That is the position the Minister has just outlined. We have seen the disastrous consequences of the sale of mor…

D’fhógair an Tánaiste inné go raibh sé i gceist aige deireadh a chur le ceann de na príomhchosaintí a bhaineann le neodracht na tíre seo, sé sin, go mbeadh tacaíocht ag na Fórsaí Cosanta ón UN do na misin a bhfuil siad gníomhach iontu. Déanfaidh sé seo damáiste do neodracht na tíre seo, nó neodracht na hÉireann, agus níl tacaíocht ann ó mhuintir na hÉireann fá choinne seo: The current policy works and it has complete popular legitimacy. There is no reason whatsoever to change it. Such a change will impress no one i…

Those were your words.

I was quoting you. Those words were your words.